{"id":58197,"date":"2019-12-11T09:06:07","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T09:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=58197"},"modified":"2019-12-10T12:48:03","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T12:48:03","slug":"the-essential-advent-calendar-december-11-jon-patrick-walker-pays-homage-to-john-lennon-with-happy-xmas-in-the-edge-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2019\/12\/the-essential-advent-calendar-december-11-jon-patrick-walker-pays-homage-to-john-lennon-with-happy-xmas-in-the-edge-times\/","title":{"rendered":"The Essential Advent Calendar: December 11 – Jon Patrick Walker Pays Homage To John Lennon With ‘Happy Xmas (In The Edge Times)’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who’s behind door number 11 in the Essential Advent Calendar? Why it’s Jon Patrick Walker with his song, ‘Happy Xmas (In The Times)’, a seasonal tune which you can easily imagine being part of a Broadway musical.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

If you’ve not heard about Jon Patrick Walker before now, then it’s certainly not our fault, as we’ve written<\/a> about him on many occasions over the past year or so. An actor, who also happens to be a brilliant singer\/songwriter as well, JP is probably best known to people for his role as King George in the US tour of the hit musical, ‘Hamilton’. Our focus however has always been on his music, which, this song included, is characterised by being deeply insightful and thought-provoking.<\/p>\n

Walker didn’t include this track on his most recent album, ‘Welcome To The Edge Times’, which was released on October 25, but it’s no less connected to that record than any of the songs that made it on there. It’s poignant, introspective, and, as we said at the start, could fit quite well in a Christmas musical on Broadway. There’s a nod to John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the title, and in theme, which, like ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’, deals with looking for another way to do things; to contemplate how we can go into the new year with a different viewpoint.<\/p>\n

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“May we celebrate all the blessings of this life with all its pain \/ May we know the loves all around us that there’s sunshine after rain”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Despite the things we go through, there is always hope. There’s sunshine after the rain. While John and Yoko sang on a more global level about a life without war and a world filled with peace, Jon takes it down a notch and asks us to look more deeply at a personal level.<\/p>\n

Keeping to the singer\/songwriter tradition he’s made his own, singing accompanied by only a piano, Jon outlines what he’s hoping to do for Christmas this year. He’s not going to be spending money at the stores – if possible he hopes to not spend any money at all – after all, spending time with friends and family doesn’t need to cost anything, so long as we have love to sustain us – “let’s spread life love and laughter \/ happy Christmas to everyone”<\/p>\n

How are you spending your Christmas this year? Let us know.<\/p>\n

You can listen to ‘Happy Xmas (In The Edge Times)’ on Spotify, where you can also find ‘Welcome To The Edge Times’, and Jon Patrick Walker’s other music<\/a>. Check out more about JP on his official website<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n